After another day of gains on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its longest winning streak in more than sixteen years. Positive data was released from the Commerce Department which announced that retail sales rose 1.1% last month--a figure much higher than originally forecast. These numbers pushed the dollar up to a seven month high. Walgreen Co. (WGN) and Netflix (NFLX) shares gained on Wednesday while Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SPPI) stumbled nearly 39% after releasing a yearly forecast that was below investor expectations.

Boeing (BA) traded higher after the Federal Aviation Administration approved its plan to test a redesigned battery. The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that from now on it will not release their monetary policy statements until 2 p.m. Eastern time instead of 12:30 p.m.